At sidelines of General Assembly, foreign minister tells counterparts from several countries there is no chance for peace as long as Abbas serves as Palestinian president. 'Iran's conduct in the international arena is barbaric,' he adds

Moran Azulay|Published: 29.09.12 , 09:16

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
met with counterparts from several countries at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, including France, Russia, Argentina and Spain.

According to a statement released by the foreign minister's office, Lieberman told the ministers that there was no chance for a peace agreement between Israel
and the Palestinians as long as Mahmoud Abbas
served as chairman of the Palestinian Authority.

The foreign minister argued that Abbas was "the main and greatest obstacle to peace." He added that although Israel had saved the PA from collapsing
just several days ago, Abbas had chosen to deliver a hateful and inflammatory speech
against Israel – the type of speeches, he said, which are usually delivered by the leaders of Iran
and Hamas.

He further claimed that Abbas had no interest or ability to properly manage the situation in the PA, and that all he was interested in was travelling around the world, inciting against Israel and blaming the Jewish state for all his problems.

Lieberman told the foreign ministers that the international community must renounce Abbas if it wished to advance a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Lieberman with ministers from Ethiopia, South Sudan and Uganda (Photo: Shahar Azran)

As for Iran, Lieberman said that "Tehran's conduct in the international arena is barbaric and threatens world peace, and if its nuclear program is not halted – the meaning is a complete breakdown of the international community's deterrence abilities."

He further added that the situation was similar to the international community's helplessness in regards to what was happening in Syria.

Lieberman went on to blast the Arab League for condemning Israel instead of Syria,
thus proving that it is a meaningless and irrelevant body.